Recommendations for hospice facility in Bergen County or between SOMA and Bergen County?

Hi all. We are sadly looking at options for putting an elderly family member into hospice care following a hospital stay. Our preference is not to return them to their home, where it would be difficult to provide adequate care. Because their spouse lives in Bergen County, we are ideally looking for a facility in Bergen County or somewhere between SOMA and Bergen County. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thank you very much. 

is in home hospice an option?  Did you speak with the discharge planner at the hospital?

ETA: my sympathies for having to go through this. 

We were pleased with Valley Hospital hospice (Ridgewood, N.J.)

I will be having this conversation with my fathers caregivers tomorrow.

Guess I still need to understand how palliative care he's receiving now in acute care rehab differs from "official" hospice care.

I would like him to be able to come home, but given his lack of mental clarity now and delirium, perhaps it's not really a factor.   

I'm so sorry to read this.  I gather that he is still mobile, since you are concerned about him being at home? Based on my own parents' experiences a few years ago (in another state), if confined to bed, I would definitely try for in-home hospice if possible.  

Good luck finding the best solution.

I am so sorry you are going through this.  Assuming that the condition of the elderly family member and/or conditions at the patient's home make home hospice care unworkable,  I second the suggestion of speaking with the social worker or case manager at the hospital.  Some hospitals even have personnel on staff who specialize in helping with hospice arrangements. Unfortunately, while most hospital staff will do little more than provide a list facilities and phone numbers expecting family to make the actual selection, they will be able to help with actual placement and transport. They will not release the patient until a suitable bed is found. 

It is best to have someone less emotionally involved accompany the family member who will be making the inquiry/decision as to placement.  This is a process that can be very emotionally draining and you need someone who can think clearly to help that family member make the necessary decision. 

Please don't hesitate to continue posting to this thread if you need help or emotional support as you go through this.  We are all here for you.

Thank you so much for these suggestions. The family member is not currently mobile. The reason we do not think in-home hospice is a good idea is because we think it would be too difficult for the spouse to care for the person at home. Am I not thinking through that clearly? Thanks.

In Northern New Jersey the options for residential Hospice are Villa Marie Claire in Saddle River, Father Hudson House in Elizabeth and Center for Hope in Scotch Plains all three are very good. The other option is in a nursing home and utilizing the community hospice agency the facility has an agreement with. It is important to keep in mind Hospice Coverage through Medicare and Insurance does not pay for the room and board that must be covered by private pay or Medicaid. I hope this is helpful. I agree with the recommendation you speak with the hospital social worker (that's what Social Workers are there to help with and the sooner you contact her/him the better.) 

Pumpkin said:

Thank you so much for these suggestions. The family member is not currently mobile. The reason we do not think in-home hospice is a good idea is because we think it would be too difficult for the spouse to care for the person at home. Am I not thinking through that clearly? Thanks.

That may well be a legitimate concern.  But if you/they can afford a facility, then might be able to afford in-home caregivers to relieve the spouse.  It may also depend upon how stressful the situation is for the spouse and the relative impact of needing to travel for visits vs being in the same place with him.  I don't know much about local facility/caregiver options and cost comparisons, but I think it may be worth investigating.  The hospice service that we had for my parents apparently offered or included some household/caregiving support also, but by that stage, we already had 24-hour caregivers and assistance for them and didn't need that, so I don't know if that would have been an added cost.  The services we took advantage of (which included a supervising physician on call, as well as a nurse who visited as often as needed and was there round-the-clock at the end, and associated medications) were completely covered by Medicare as I recall.